Every ten years, Sight and Sound magazine polls 108 of famous directors and 145 film critics on their top ten favourite movies.

The website They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They? takes things one step further. It takes a poll of virtually every poll they could find, and compiles a list of The Top 1000 Films of All Time.

Am I alone in thinking this is going in a seriously wrong direction? If we ask the question, “What makes these films so great?” the only answer the site offers is that others have said they are. Why should we put so much trust in them? Where does that leave our own viewpoint?

Poll-taking at this level isn’t just a hobby taken to a ridiculous extreme, it’s a recipe for close-mindedness. What’s easily forgotten is that so many great artists, Shakespeare, Mozart, Van Gogh, would never have reached the top of such a poll in their own art while they were creating their greatest works. To place authority in this poll is to miss the less popular filmmakers that have been too far ahead of their time to have achieved mainstream popularity.

In the last three years, the top 5 has always consisted of Citizen Kane, Vertigo, The Rules of the Game, 2001: A Space Odyssey and 8 1/2. The changes in rank at the high end of the spectrum are very slight, when they’re present at all. The inherent conclusion is that these films are just so great, so much better than all the others, that there’s a remarkable consensus that these are truly the best films of all time. That, of course, is the only possible insight into the films that this list can make. “What makes these the best films? Is it their insight into humanity? Their technical virtuosity? Their power to shatter our minds and open our perspectives to never before imagined possibilities of life?” “No. They’re the best because other people said so.”

I can understand the purpose of making the list, and I’d recommend people watch one of these 1,000 films rather than whatever is topping the box office this week. But I’d also recommend that after watching them, they don’t feel bad if they don’t “get” what makes such a film so much better than all the others. Instead, try watching some other films by the same director to understand their style a little more, or read the insights other writers have made into the films. Eventually you might begin to understand what you missed and be able to really get something from the films. Or, you might realize that the film doesn’t have anything substantial to offer, the critics who think the film is great are wrong, and it’s only been the reluctance of people to think for themselves that has made the work popular. Then forget the lists and look for films that can open your mind, expand your worldview and make you realize the uselessness of following what other people think.

Remember, people liked M. Night Shyamalan once, too.